Pancreas News and Research

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The pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as an exocrine gland, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that pass to the small intestine. These enzymes help in the further breakdown of the carbohydrates, protein, and fat in the chyme.

Genome scanning system used to uncover suspect mutations in normal inherited genes

Scientists at the Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have used "personalized genome" sequencing on an individual with a hereditary form of pancreatic cancer to locate a mutation in a gene called PALB2 that is responsible for initiating the disease.

5 Mar 2009

Enteroviruses may play role in type 1 diabetes

A team of researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England, the University of Brighton and the Department of Pathology at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, has found that a common family of viruses (enteroviruses) may play an important role in triggering the development of diabetes, particularly in children.

5 Mar 2009

Discovery of gene that modifies severity of cystic fibrosis lung disease

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, and colleagues, have identified a gene that modifies the severity of lung disease in people with cystic fibrosis, a lethal genetic condition. The findings open the door to possible new targets for treatment, researchers say.

3 Mar 2009

Type 1 diabetes patients sought for UT Southwestern clinical drug trial

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers are recruiting individuals newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes for a clinical trial to gauge the effectiveness of adding an investigational stem cell product to standard insulin therapy.

3 Mar 2009

New tissue engineering technique may help stem cells generate solid organs

Stem cells can thrive in segments of well-vascularized tissue temporarily removed from laboratory animals, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

2 Mar 2009

New optical technology shows promise in detecting pancreatic cancer

Optical technology developed by a Northwestern University professor of biomedical engineering has been shown to be effective in detecting the presence of pancreatic cancer through analysis of neighboring tissue in the duodenum, according to clinical trial results published in the journal Disease Markers.

2 Mar 2009

Discovery of gene involved in pancreatic cancer

Researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a gene that is overexpressed in 90 percent of pancreatic cancers, the most deadly type of cancer.

2 Mar 2009

Discovery of gene that modifies severity of cystic fibrosis lung disease

Researchers have discovered a gene that modifies the severity of lung disease in people with the lethal genetic condition, cystic fibrosis, pointing to possible new targets for treatment, according to a new study in Nature.

25 Feb 2009

Discovery of gene that modifies severity of cystic fibrosis lung disease

25 Feb 2009

Compounds that trigger beta cell replication identified

Researchers at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) have identified a set of compounds that can trigger the proliferation of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, using sophisticated high-throughput screening techniques.

25 Feb 2009

Determining risk for pancreatic cancer

In the latest clinical trial for a technique to detect pancreatic cancer, researchers found they could differentiate cells that are cancerous from those that are benign, pre-cancerous, or even early stage indicators called mucinous cystic lesions.

24 Feb 2009

Life-giving technology: Camera pills and ultrasound creating maps of the body

For more than ten years, senior medical officer Ronald Marvik at St. Olav's Hospital in Trondheim has been collaborating with SINTEF scientist Thomas Lango. Together, they have created a new IT-base window on the inside of the body, a window that makes a patient transparent on a screen when a surgeon inserts operating instruments through small openings in the abdominal wall.

23 Feb 2009

Cancer death rates fall among African Americans - survival rates still low

While death rates from cancer continue to drop among African Americans, the group continues to be diagnosed at more advanced stages and have lower survival rates at each stage of diagnosis compared to whites for most cancer sites.

20 Feb 2009

GlaxoSmithKline starts phase III trial of Syncria (albiglutide) type 2 diabetes medication

GlaxoSmithKline has announced initiation and dosing of the first patient of the Phase III clinical trial programme to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of the investigational GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide 1) agonist Syncria (albiglutide) in men and women with type 2 diabetes.

18 Feb 2009

Leptin shows potential for type 1 diabetes

Terminally ill rodents with type 1 diabetes have been restored to full health with a single injection of a substance other than insulin by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists.

16 Feb 2009

Nanoscopic changes to pancreatic cells reveal cancer

A team of researchers in Chicago has developed a way to examine cell biopsies and detect never-before-seen signs of early-stage pancreatic cancer, according to a new paper in the Optical Society (OSA) journal Optics Letters.

16 Feb 2009

Molecule that suppresses immune response under study in type 1 diabetes

The idea is to teach the immune system of children at high risk for type 1 diabetes not to attack the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.

5 Feb 2009

Cultured cells from the bone marrow can heal nerves in diabetes model

Transplanting cells that replenish blood vessels can also restore nerve function in an animal model of diabetic neuropathy, Emory researchers have found.

5 Feb 2009

Laparoscopic central pancreatectomy

This minimally invasive procedure, pioneering in Spain, has been developed by a team of surgeons at the University Hospital of Navarra, which brings together the greatest experience worldwide in this technique.

3 Feb 2009

Drugs may be 'magic bullet' for infants born with rare form of diabetes

Infants born with a rare form of inherited diabetes might avoid irreversible damage to their pancreases if they are treated immediately with sulfonylurea drugs rather than insulin, according to a new report in the February 4th issue of Cell Metabolism , a Cell Press publication.

3 Feb 2009